National 14x12 Brood Box

National Standard Floor

Made from Cedar or Red Deal with a ply floor and timber lipping. Comes with entrance block.

Assembled Cedar £34.02Assembled Red Deal £28.55

Flat Pack National 14x12 Brood Box

Cedar £59.25Red Deal £37.66

Framed Queen Excluder

Framed Queen Excluders suitable for both top and bottom bee space. £17.89

Apiguard Crown Board

Facilitates administration of 'Apiguard' and can be used as a Clearer Board with the supplied Porter Bee Escapes. £17.23

Crown Board

Can also be used as a Clearer Board with the supplied Porter Bee Escapes. £13.55

Polycarbonate Quilt

Transparent alternative to the Crown Board. Allows viewing bees with minimal disruption to the colony. £17.21

Snelgrove Board

Invented by Leonard Snelgrove for the purpose of effective swarm/colony splitting and management.
See Snelgrove Method

Travelling Screen

Allows bees to breathe/stay cool whilst being transported. When moving a hive over a long distance remove the roof and crownboard and replace with a travelling screen. Hold in place with one or two hive straps. 3mm mesh to ensure no bees escape. £16.59

14x12 Eke

Used to convert a standard brood box to take 14x12 frames. Requires metal runners or castellated spacers (below)

Assembled Cedar £31.96Assembled Red Deal £28.88

National Nucleus Hive

Suitable for 6 Hoffman frames with a higher roof to take 1/4 gallon liquid feeders. Comes with dummy board for easier inspection. Choose a timber and Assembled (Assm) or Flat Pack (FP)

National Nucleus Hive 14x12

As above but 14x12. Choose a timber and Assembled (Assm) or Flat Pack (FP)

Castellated Spacers and Metal Runners

Hive Tools

Mouse Guard

National Entrance Block

Western Red Cedar with a small and large entrance. Made slightly overlength. Cut to fit your hive.

£2.54

Dummy Boards

Choose from National Hive Standard Brood, National 14x12 Brood or National Super

Frames

National Hive Hoffman, DN1 and SN1 Frames are now available in Flat Packs of 10 and 50. All packs come supplied with some frame nails to get you started.

Foundation Wax

National BS Wired Foundation. We Stock the most popular sizes. Deep, Shallow and 14x12 wax foundation.

Plastic Frame Ends

Plastic frame spacers available in narrow and wide. Sold in bags of 100. Plastic ends are available in white in either a narrow or wide spacing.

Nucleus Colonies

If you are interested in a top quality Nucleus Colony on 5 or 6 frames please email nicholas@peak-hives.co.uk and we will pass on your details to our bee breeder Helen. She's an expert with a wealth of experience and produces quality nucs with marked queens. She is also breeding now from newly arrived Buckfast Queens. The 2013 season price per Nucleus Colony is £175.00.

British National Beehives

Based in a small workshop in Tideswell in the Peak District we make Highest Quality British National Beehives out of 1st grade American Western Red Cedar or High Quality Red Deal according to the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) Modified National Hive Plans. Everything we sell we make here in the Peak District. We also stock other items of Beekeeping Supplies including Frames, Foundation Wax and Hive Tools. The driving forces behind peak-hives.co.uk are sustainability and quality workmanship. Sustainability because, well it matters quite a bit we think and quality workmanship because customer satisfaction is paramount. New for 2019 is our range of pollinator plants.

Fully Assembled National Hives

Customise to your requirements and choose either 1st grade Cedar or Red Deal. Standard Brood Box and Floor are included in the price. Bottom Bee Space is the National Hive standard so if you want Top Bee Space tick the checkbox. Don't forget to add on your metalwork requirements from the left hand column. We stock metal runners for Hoffman Frames and Castellated Spacers for SN1 etc. Please choose your hive options and extras below:

Supers:

Roof:

Floor:

Crown:

Stand:

14x12 Brood Box + £16.20

Framed Wired Queen Excluder + £17.89

Top Bee Space. Free.

red deal
Red Deal Discount.

Total

Flat Pack National Hives

Customise to your requirements and choose either 1st Grade Cedar or Red Deal. Standard Brood Box and Floor are included in the price. Bottom Bee Space is the National Hive standard so if you want Top Bee Space tick the checkbox. Don't forget to add on your metalwork requirements from the left hand column. We stock metal runners for Hoffman Frames and Castellated Spacers for SN1 etc. Please choose your hive options and extras below:

Supers:

Roof:

Floor:

Crown:

Stand:

14x12 Brood Box + £14.53

Framed Wired Queen Excluder + £17.89

Top Bee Space. Free.

red deal
Red Deal Discount.

Total

webcam...

Want to see your National Hive being made? Here's what's going on in the workshop right now. The image is updated every 10 minutes during working hours. Click to see full size...

blog...

The rest of the centre column is an ongoing blog of what's new at peak-hives.co.uk and other items of interest...veg garden...renewables etc, but please don't let reading about the allotment distract you from placing your order...:-)

What do you get when you cross-pollinate bees and the Church? A Peak Hives National Hive on top of Manchester Cathedral!

Manchester Cathedral

Adrian (Peak Hives customer and also an Honorary Canon at the Cathedral) emailed me…

‘…The project is beginning to take shape now. Manchester Cathedral is very much a working cathedral – very involved in the city and highly active at a social level. We have a Volunteer Project – for young people struggling to get a step on the ladder of life. The Cathedral Apiary project is part of that. We will be training up individuals in beekeeping – but there is a level of involvement beyond that. We will take the different elements of it – building hives/frames etc, managing the hives, extracting and selling honey, and use of other products of the hive – as a way of getting people to learn how to start and work up a project and follow it through – so that they can use these skills in other fields. It will be a rolling programme of development…’

Quick update and a piccy. We’re still busy but will soon thankfully be taking a couple of weeks holiday in the Vendee (and really looking forward to it). The picture is of one of our 6 Frame Nucleus Hives but this time the customer ordered the full set. From the bottom up…Nucleus Hive Stand with Splayed Legs and Landing Board, Nucleus Hive Varroa Floor, Brood Chamber (which comes supplied with a Dummy Board for easier manipulation), Nucleus Hive super, Nucleus Hive Ashforth feeder, Crown Board and Deep Roof with enough space to take a feeder.

Time to respond to customer requests. I’ve had numerous enquiries as to whether I’d make a ‘Super’ for a Nucleus Hive. Well here it is (See pic below). It’s sized to sit atop of our 6 Frame Nucleus Hive and comes with fitted metal runners. The work involved in making one is more or less the same as for a full sized National Hive Super so unfortunately they can’t be sold for half price for the small amount of material that’s saved. But they’ve been requested a good few times now and we try our best to satisfy demand.

Nucleus Hive Super

They are now available to purchase in the left hand column. All the best and happy beekeeping. Nick and Adriana.

Quick shot of the order finished today. Two Nucleus Hives in Cedar with Varroa Floors and our new Splayed Leg Hive Stands. At Peak Hives we put as much work and attention to detail in making our Nucleus Hives as we do into making our full sized National Hives. In fact the time it takes making one is not far off about the same as making a full sized hive as they have essentially all the same components but scaled down. Stand, Varroa Floor, Brood Chamber, Crown Board and Roof.

This stack of National Hive Brood Boxes in Red Deal has just been completed and is now ready for putting on a pallet for delivery to our beekeeper customer in Herts. After sizing it up for delivery it was decided that a single pallet would be better as it would have taken 8 individual packages to be sent by the normal courier route.

National Brood Chambers

We did have a relatively quiet period in November when I managed to get more or less up to date with the order queue but with the new season that’s now history and we’re as busy as heck and I’m currently working 7 days a week in the workshop trying to get on top of the workload. Thankfully Peak Hives tends to attract customers that understand that when ordering from a cottage industry there may be a wait between clicking ‘buy now’ and delivery. We really do appreciate our clients patience. Our customer satisfaction rate suggests they think it’s worth it.

I’ve been asked a number of times for these so I set aside some workshop time to make up the required jigs and ensure that they could be manufactured to a consistent high standard. That done I have now added them as a product in the left hand column and they are also an option on our National Hives. Apart from looking good, the splayed legs add stability and the longer landing board should be appreciated by both bees and beekeeper alike.

Of National Nucleus Hives in Western Red Cedar. These 13 were ordered to rejuvenate a Channel Island Beekeeping Association’s equipment inventory. Modesty aside I think they look a treat and hope that the clients will be as pleased with them as I am. Our 6 Hoffman Frame plus Dummy Board (which comes supplied with the nuc) configuration is proving a popular product and the fact that Peak Hives supplies them with the option of a Varroa Floor adds further benefit. Anyway, enough banging our drum here’s a piccy of them prior to shipping by pallet…

Since starting National Hive production at Peak Hives I’ve used my trusty Sedgwick morticing machine to cut the slots for the rails to sit into brood boxes and supers. Cedar is an extremely light wood with air between the fibres therfore affording extra insulation to bees housed in a cedar hive, BUT that lightness means that on occasion the morticer can sometimes cut/crush it’s way through the timber rather than just cutting. The image below illustrates the problem…

National Hive Rail Slots

Time for a Dado head! They’re not normally available here in the UK because of our Health and Safety laws but I’ve been searching ebay for a while and found one. After making up a custom jig and some more fettling it’s doing a grand job. Nice clean precise cuts every time and it’s also slightly quicker.

Our client wishes to place his apiary with the back of his hives against a limestone wall. After having picked up his original order for a National Hive in Cedar with a standard Varroa Floor he realised that the slide out Correx tray meant that his hives would have to be 1/2 metre away from the wall. After a quick consultation with us we’ve come up with these bespoke Open Mesh Floors. On one the tray slides out to the left and on the other it slides out to the right allowing two hives to be inspected from a central position. We always try to meet any special requirements if we can. If the customers happy, we’re happy.

Finally got round to making all the jigs and workarounds to make the production of Hoffman Frames viable. They’re now added to the frames section in the left hand column. We’re offering our frames in flat packs of 10 or 50 and the Hoffmans are available in standard National Hive Brood Box size and 14×12. All our frame packs come supplied with frame nails.

Hoffman Frames

As is the case with all our National Hive products every stage from raw material to completed frame is done in our workshop in Tideswell.

We’ve had a number of enquiries as to when is the last date for ordering Peak Hives National Hive products to ensure timely delivery for giving as Christmas presents this year. Up at the top of the page from now until around Christmas time there’ll be a ‘last order date’ which will be continually monitored and updated to ensure delivery in time.

Here at Peak Hives we take product development seriously. When we get National Hive suggestions from customers they are always considered carefully and incorporated into our product line if they’d be a useful addition to the beekeeping experience. Hence the new Peak Hives Nucleus Hive.

6 Frame Nucleus Hive

The most noticeable improvement is our new Nucleus Hives have room for 6 frames instead of the previous 5. But also we’ve built in room to add a dummy board (which comes included) alongside the 6 frames to make inspection easier.

As can be seen from the photos there’s the optional 7 litre Ashforth Feeder sized to sit perfectly on top of the brood area. The other feeding option is provided by the feed hole in the crown board which allows the use of a contact feeder should you prefer. Also optional is the Nucleus Hive stand with landing board again sized to sit perfectly under the hive.

6 Frame Nucleus Hive

We’re the only National Hive makers to incorporate a Varroa Floor with our Nucleus Hives and with the new 6 frame Nucleus Hives and that will continue. Whether a hive is for a nuc or a large colony it’s always useful to be able to inspect for Varroa infestation. As can be seen in the photo we use yellow correx trays in our Open Mesh Floors to aid visual identification of the mite. The standard floor will also continue as an option should you prefer. Both floors come with an entrance block.

Nucleus Hive Varroa Floor

And of course we’re offering the new product in standard National Hive brood size and 14×12. All in Western Red Cedar or the more economical Red Deal.

Just added Frames and Dummy Boards to the Peak Hives product list. They can now be purchased from the left hand column along with all other Peak Hives National Hive products.

These two products have been requested umpteen times. Dummy Boards present no problem it’s just that I’m so busy with existing orders it takes some time for me to fit into the work schedule making up anything new.

Dummy Boards

Frames are another matter. Each frame consists of 6 seperately machined elements and yet they command such a low selling price. I’ve been working on this problem for a while and whilst it’s been sorted some time ago for supplying my own apiary I have been wary of offering them as a PH product up until now. Various jigs have been designed and made and then remade and then again reworked but I’m now finally confident that they can be viably produced in batches meaning I’m not having to work for two penneth an hour.

DN1 Frame Pack

So far we’re offering the bread and butter DN1 and SN1 frames in packs of 10 in the flat. Hoffman brood frames will come before the new 2012 season.

For the upcoming 2012 season Peak Hives has joined forces with a local bee breeder and will be supplying Nucleus Colonies of bees. We still have to cross some ‘t’s and dot some ‘i’s but if you’re interested in a ‘nuc’ then please email. Our bee breeder is very experienced and has invested recently in some Buckfast Queens to breed from for the next season. More on this soon…

The season’s nearly over here in the Peak District. Time to pop some Apiguard on the hives and get things ready for the winter. We took over 200lb of honey off our 5 colonies and we’re jarring up to sell through local outlets. James and Alexandra are already planning what to buy with their ‘honey money’.

Anyway to ease a bit of the upcoming winter gloom here’s the winning entries for our photo competition. We have had tons of entries and it’s been VERY hard work to come up with 3 winners.

1st Prize of a complete Peak Hives Nucleus Hive goes to Paul M for this shot. It’s just fantastic and I’ve even incorporated it into the PH banner at the top of the website. Many thanks Paul.

Paul-M-1st

Second prize (and it was VERY VERY hard deciding between 1st and 2nd) goes to Cora M. Just a great image! PH didn’t supply the supporting cast by the way and the pyrography must be all Cora’s work too. Brilliant and thanks for the photo! An assembled cedar super will be on it’s way.

Cora-M-2nd

Third goes to (this was another really hard decision as there was a super Christmas image in contention) Stephen S for this image. Also on it’s way will be an assembled cedar super.

Stephen-S-3rd

Many, many thanks to all the PH customers who participated. It was a bit of fun and it worked well so I’ll probably do something similar next season.

Bearing in mind our order queue it’d be appreciated if the winners could be patient in receiving their prizes. I promise that they will turn up in good time for the 2012 season.

Whenever I visit an experienced beekeeper I like to see how they operate and what modifications they have made to their National Hives to see if there’s an opportunity to usefully expand the Peak Hives product range. I don’t want to manufacture anything that isn’t good for practical beekeeping. On a recent visit to one of the Chesterfield BKA members apiary I noticed that he was using polycarbonate quilts. I’ve seen them before, of course, but having received the stamp of approval of a beekeeper with many years experience I decided to add them to the PH product line. Framed in Cedar here’s No 1 in our apiary…

Polycarbonate Quilt

Peak Hives polycarbonate quilts are now available to purchase in the left hand column.

We’re off on our annual holiday tomorrow. Back in 2 weeks to apply the Apiguard and resume production.

We’re very busy!!! Lots of National Hive products being made up and sent out to PH customers. I’ve had to put the mobile phone on one side to allow me to maximise time in the workshop so apologies if I don’t answer. Best bet is to email and we’ll try to answer asap.

First pic is of a machinery upgrade. I’ve had my tenoning machine for some time now and it’s served me well. It had old style cutting heads but they are now illegal and they also require sharpening quite frequently so I’ve bitten the bullet and bought some new TCT cutting heads made by Whitehill. They are the business! Nice clean cuts every time and they won’t shoot out a piece of high speed steel at 100mph to boot.

Tenoner Upgrade

Next is an upgrade that I’ve been looking to do for a while but have only just found a supplier. Flat pack hives don’t look their best if they are made up with clout nails. I’ve been on the lookout for galvanised lost head nails for some time. Found them! So all Peak Hives flat packs will now be supplied with galvanised nails.

Galvanised Hive Nails

Frames are on the way…DN1 and SN1 are up and running. Will add as a PH product after I’ve made up a few hundred…

Frames!!!

And as usual I like to put a piccy of some recent orders made up in the PH workshop. Here’s a load of National Hive equipment in the newly tidied storage area awaiting dispatch.

Latest orders

That’s it. Workshop tomorrow. Working for yourself has many benefits but one can’t shake off the feeling that you should be in there all the time.

From now on the slide out trays used for Varroa inspections on Peak Hives Open Mesh Floors will be made from 4mm Yellow Correx rather than the 5mm ply previously used. This change applies to full National size Varroa Floors and our Nucleus Hive Varroa Floor.

Open Mesh Floor Improvement

At Peak Hives we take suggestions/requests from our customers seriously. Generally speaking I’d say that if a customer suggests an improvement it doesn’t always register as I’m so busy working on orders that product modification isn’t foremost in my mind but if it’s asked for again then I try to stop what I’m doing and give the matter some serious consideration and come to a decision.

The main reason for this change to Yellow Correx slide out trays is better visibility as compared to the ply trays I previously manufactured. It is much easier to spot a Varroa Mite against the Yellow Correx background than against the purpleish coloured ply.

Of course if you’re a previous Peak Hives customer and would like a Yellow Correx slide out tray then just get in touch and we can sort you out with a new tray at cost.

The season is more or less upon us and I’m too busy to take photos of everything leaving the workshop and blog it but here’s another recent order. The customer is moving from standard brood box size to 14×12 brood boxes. He had two national hives from us last season but this year wishes to move to 14×12 and expand his apiary. So there’s two fully assembled hives in cedar with 14×12 broods, a nucleus hive, an ashforth feeder and two ekes to convert his standard broods purchased last year to 14×12 size.

14x12 Hives and Ekes

After cocking up the first attempt at making the ekes (my bees have to suffer once again…) I’m now very happy with them. They just drop into the standard brood box (after removing previous metalwork of course) and you have a 14×12 brood chamber…

I’ll be able to join the debate as to whether 14×12 or brood and a half is better later in the year as I’m going to be running both side by side this season.

A couple of hives finished today. On the left is a five frame National Nucleus Hive suitable for 5 frames plus 8mm ‘wiggle’ room. On the right a full sized National Hive also from first grade cedar. Comes with a Stand with Landing Board, Varroa Floor, Standard Brood Chamber, A Framed wired queen excluder, two Supers, An Apiguard Crown Board and a Standard 4″ roof.

little-n-large

These are to go tomorrow to a repeat customer. It is very rewarding to find that many Peak Hives customers are satisfied with their first order and purchase again.

A much valued Peak Hives customer has sent me this stunning photo. It’s two Peak Hives Nationals painted up in white and set in his beautiful garden. I think the white works really well here and paint is also the best protection for any outside woodwork including hives.

Beautiful Apiary

Aesthetically it very much puts my apiary to shame…but you know what they say… ‘cobbler’s children…’

Still busy up here and here’s a quick picture of the order made up over the weekend (Yes including Sunday)…The order was for 3 14×12 National Hives in red deal each including a Varroa floor, a 14×12 Brood Chamber, Framed Queen Excluder, Two Supers, a Standard Crown Board and a Standard 4 inch roof. Sunday working isn’t so bad when you love your job!

Cedar is a superior timber for making hives partly because it has natural chemical constituents that protect it from insect and fungal attack. These chemicals can cause a side effect though in that they can react with the iron content of standard nails and cause staining if the wood is wet. I’ve been wetting the wood in picture every day for a couple of weeks and you can see the stain from the standard steel nail starting to spread. Of course this doesn’t occur if the hive is protected with paint or Danish/Linseed Oil but some prefer to leave their woodwork untreated to age and weather naturally.

On the left you can see the stained standard nail. On the right you can see no staining around the galvanized nail fixed in place by my new Air Nailer.

Cedar Test Piece

Here’s the old technology compared with the new. Hammer vs Air Nailer. Won’t be throwing the hammer away just yet but the Nailer certainly speeds up hive assembly leaves a neater finish and, using galvanized nails, gets rid of the staining issue. Peak Hives assembled National Hives will from now on be constructed using the newer method.

Quite a big order this one. It’s essentially an Apiary in a box. There’s 2 Flat Pack Cedar 14 x 12 National Hives with Open Mesh Floors and Framed Queen Excluders with 3 National Supers a piece, Standard 4″ National Roof, Crown Boards and National Hive Stands with Landing Boards.

Also on the right is a 14 x 12 Nucleus Hive in Cedar with Varroa Floor.

At the back you can just make out a couple of Ashforth Feeders too. One for the full sized Hives and one for the Nucleus Hive.

Christmas comes but once a year and one of our clients has given permission to show this picture of a beautifully wrapped Peak Hives National Hive given as a present. We were very worried that they might not get it in time for Christmas but as you can see it arrived in time for some luxury wrapping…

Christmas Hive

There were a few customers for hives as presents and thankfully we managed to get them all out in time for giving on the big day.

I’ve sent out a couple of flat pack hives this week but this is the first assembled British National Hive to come out of the Peak Hives workshop in 2011. As can be seen from the photo the stand is ‘legless’. I believe the customer has a bench arrangement in place and will sit the hive on this so no legs required. The hive consists of National Stand, Open Mesh Floor for Varroa control and monitoring, National Brood Box, Framed Queen Excluder, 3 National Supers, A Standard Crown Board with Porter Bee Escapes and a Standard 4 inch Flat Roof.

An Ashforth Feeder was also included with the order and a 70mm eke in Cedar to use with a plastic feeder the customer already has. Nice bit of kit if I do say so myself.

To celebrate the New Year and upcoming beekeeping season and as a small thank you to all our customers we are offering a Fully Assembled Peak Hives Nucleus Hive in Cedar as the top prize in a photo competition open to any Peak Hives customer. Just email us a photo of your Hive/Apiary and the best shot will win the Nuc. We’ll include Hoffman frames (a new Peak Hives product). Second prize is a Cedar Brood Box and the runner up will get a Cedar Super. All we ask is permission to put the photo into a gallery section that will feature on the Peak Hives website.

The closing date is Aug 1st 2011 when the winners will be informed. So no need to go out in the bitter cold of winter…

Trying hard to keep prices competitive we originally made our Ashforth Feeders with the idea that we would do the hard work of putting it together but let the customer finish off with wax to seal the interior from leaks.

However, whilst most have appreciated the cost reduction and been happy to apply the wax finish we’ve had a couple of customers that didn’t quite see why they should shoulder the burden of ensuring their Ashforth was leak free.

Peak Hives customers always deserve the best.

So from now on we’re keeping the price the same but applying three coats of high quality paint to the interior and guaranteeing a leak free Ashforth.

Arvind Mistry visited the workshop last week. He’s a friend and a professional photographer and had been asked to do a ‘shoot’ of a production environment. I was happy to oblige and here’s a PDF of some of the shots he took.

I was more than a tad worried that the sawdust and particles in the workshop would damage his very expensive gear but he didn’t seem in the least bothered so I cracked on making up a 14×12 brood box whilst he snapped away. He (and pricey cameras) got covered in shavings and dust but some nice piccys came out of it I think.

A new product for Peak Hives and a few photos of recent items that have left the workshop.

After a suggestion/request from an experienced beekeeper from the Leicestershire and Rutland BKA Peak Hives will now be offering the ‘Apiguard Crown Board’. It incorporates a modification to the standard Crown Board adding a 3/4 inch strip round the normally flat side of the standard Crown Board. The purpose of the extra strip is to facilitate Apiguard treatment. Under normal use the board is placed with the beespace side downwards but when it’s time to apply Apiguard (a Thymol based product which used in conjunction with other treatments has so far proven effective against Varroa) the Apiguard Crown Board is flipped over giving the 3/4 inch extra space for the Apiguard tray to sit in. A simple modification but effective against the Varroa mite.

As with the normal Crown Board it also doubles up as a clearer board with the supplied Porter Bee Escapes.

It can be purchased either as part of a flat pack or assembled hive or seperately from the left hand column.

Here’s a few snaps of the new product.

Apiguard Crown Board 1

Apiguard Crown Board 2

Apiguard Crown Board 3

I think the photos more or less explain the way it works. Any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Now here’s a few photos of recent orders. We’re still very busy and this is just a snapshot of a few that have been made up and shipped to hopefully happy Peak Hives customers.

Recent Cedar Hive

Recent Deal Hive

A Couple of Flat Peak Nucleus Hives

Update complete for now. I have a number of products in the pipeline but have to concentrate on orders for the time being.

Two orders made up today. One 14×12 National with 2 Supers and a Nucleus Hive. None of this is new but we’re proud of making our products out of locally sourced materials and both of these are constructed from Peak District Western Red Cedar.

Here’s a 14×12 top bee space National Hive in Cedar. It’s for an order but I shall also be moving my bees onto 14×12 top bee space in the coming season. I’ve just about managed OK this year with the ‘brood and a half’ I got the bees on but I have to agree with Ted Hooper that a single brood chamber has to be better (easier) to manage and any help in making the transition from beekeeping novice to beekeeper is more than welcome!

14x12 Top Bee Space National

This hive has been constructed using a mix of bought in and locally sourced Peak District Cedar.

Now we have a printer that’s working I’ve finally printed up some labels for our Tideswell Dale Honey. It’s a simple affair and doesn’t precisely conform to the honey labelling regulations etc but we’re only going to sell around 60 of these jars locally.

With Peak Hives Nucleus Hive Ashforth Feeders. These two will be winging their way to their new owner on Monday…along with the other two orders my slave driving partner Adriana has instructed me to make up this weekend (yes, weekend!). Still, it’s better to have work these days so no grumbling from me!

14×12 Nucleus Hives In Cedar

Here’s a shot of the last batch of Peak District Western Red Cedar now ready for machining having spent the summer air drying. I’ll be doing a post in the next few days about converting raw lumber like this into finished National Hive parts ready for our pollinating friends to occupy. I’ve been today to see another local Cedar that has to be felled in the coming weeks to stop it falling on the owner’s conservatory. Better it’s made into National Hives rather than firewood (Cedar is apparently a very poor firewood anyway so I’m informed)

I’ve not quite forgotten how to post articles onto the Peak Hives website but it has been a while…

There’s more than a couple of reasons why it’s been so quiet on here but one major reason is while we were away on hols the camera got dropped into the sea! Digital cameras and salt water don’t mix it seems and no matter how much drying time I give it it refuses to take another piccy. Took receipt the other day of a new camera and can finally take some shots to put onto the site again…One of the other reason it’s been so quiet is I’m spending as much time as possible in the workshop to make up orders.

Off the top of my head this weeks production has included…around 50 flat pack national supers, 25 flat pack national brood boxes, a dozen or so of broods and supers assembled, several Varroa Open Mesh Floors, two standard floors (yes there are still experienced beekeepers who use them), around 14 4″ roofs, 1 complete 14×12 hive in cedar and an accompanying nucleus hive (pictured) and a few ashforth feeders…phew. There’s lots more to make up though and we certainly do thank our customers for their patience.

14x12 hive and 14x12 nuc

Up here in the Peak the season’s well and truly over as regards the buzzers…they’re settling in for winter. Started with 2 colonies and looks like we’ll end with 2. Now to see how they fair in the Peak District winter…

Just finished for the 2 week hols. We’re taking the ankle biters to France camping. Euro Exchange rate could have been kinder but what the hell…this year has been about building up to this so we’re going no matter what.

Here’s a quick piccy of a 14 x 12 Nucleus Hive. The customer wanted a stand to suit so endeavouring to please I’ve made one up to the nuc size. The Nucleus was ordered flat pack but as a token compensation for her patience in waiting for the order I decided to build it up and throw in one of the small hive tools and frame lifters too. Must be the holiday season going to me ‘ead…

14x12 Nucleus Hive With Stand

All the best and here’s to bountiful honey crops for all. See you in 2 weeks or so…(and yes I do have work waiting for when we return but I’m going to put it well out of my head for the next fortnight)

A quick note before I head for the Cedar…news of some planned product improvements and workflow/customer service.

First of all I’m having a branding iron made for Peak Hives. It will allow me to brand all Peak Hives assembled products both inside and out with a unique serial number should the client request it. There’s been quite a few hive thefts in Derbyshire (see latest Beecraft) and as bees and hives come to the fore and increase more and more in value I think putting an indelible unique identifier on each hive is a good idea. The serial number will be the customers ‘PHXXXXXX’ order number which is unique to each customer and it can be burned into the timber as the hive is assembled so I can do it both inside and out in places that would make removal very difficult indeed whilst not affecting detrimentally the look of the hive.

Following on from that I’ve decided to implement a calendar widget on the Peak Hives web page where customers can check where their order is in the queue. We are a cottage industry striving for sustainability and mass production isn’t what Peak Hives is about. But we are a business and keeping customers happy is core to any business. The idea is that for every order received there will be a ‘PHXXXXXX’ serial number generated which would be sent to the customer. This would then be placed on a frequently updated calendar visible on the main page. The customer could then easily check where their order was in the queue and have peace of mind as to when it would be finished and despatched. There’s a bit of programming to do on the page so it won’t be done until this current busy period is over but it should be a helpful improvement in future.

Finally, I always like to put up some visuals so here’s a piccy of a couple of National Hives that recently left the workshop…

The weather’s turned a bit unpleasant here in the Peak and due to my swarm control activities I have a new nucleus colony. I’ve decided to feed them up and made up a pair of Ashforth Feeders, one for a full size National Hive and one for my 5 frame Nucleus Hives. I tried the plastic contact feeders that most of the other suppliers sell and having been warned by experienced beeks that they were rubbish I can confirm from my own experience that they’re right. They are rubbish. I’ve decided to opt for the Ashforth as the best feeder. The other option would be the Miller but according to other beeks they are not as good as they require your hive to be perfectly level (and I know mine aren’t).

They are made of First Grade Cedar and have a bee space underneath to allow the bees maximum access to the syrup. The full size feeder can easily accomodate 10 litres of syrup and the nucleus size around 5 litres. I’ll be adding them as Peak Hives products as soon as the broadband arrives at the new house.

After dedicating myself to getting up at 5am and finishing in the workshop at 11pm for the last week I’ve finally finished Matthew’s 23 fully assembled Cedar National Hives. That’s 23 National Hive Stands, 23 Varroa Floors, 23 National Brood Boxes, 46 National Supers, 23 Framed and Wired Queen Excluders, 23 Crown Boards with Porter Bee Escapes, 23 National Hive Gabled Roofs and a partridge in a pear tree.

Here’s a piccy of Matthew (and Alexandra, one of mine) who runs Honey Bees At Home just about cramming it all in to a long wheel base Mercedes Sprinter Van. Many thanks to Matthew and all the best with Honey Bees At Home!

I am well and truly knackered but will be making up orders again tomorrow first thing…it’s a good job I love my workshop.

Partly due to workloads and also the need for a better place for my own brood we decided to move into the house next to the workshop. Peak Hives customers will be pleased to hear that this allows me to get into work at around 6am and leave around 10pm…has to be done but I’m not sure how long I can keep it up. I’m currently awaiting a broadband connection which is due on the 10th of June. One that’s in then my plan is to install a Peak Hives Workshop Webcam so that clients can see their National Hive being machined and assembled. The move will also allow me to develop new National Hive related products when I have a bit of spare time…watch this space. First on the list is going to be Ashforth feeders for both full sized hives and nucleus hives as my own recent experience suggests that the contact feeders are rubbish.

Regional FERA Bee Inspector Tim Roper called round under the FERA free inspection offer (you need to register with Beebase in order to qualify for a free inspection and it’s definitely worth it. My opinion is that it in these times registration should be obligatory. Anyway, after looking at Peak Hives 2 colonies he pronounced them in good health. There was some evidence of chalk brood but not enough to cause too much concern.

The bees are now filling up the new super with drawn comb and there’s the ‘old socks’ smell of Dandelion honey. Tim says it’s quite nice to eat though.

We’ve now got two strong looking colonies of British Black Bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera) in the Peak Hives Apiary. On inspection the other day with our experienced beekeeping friend Carl we popped off a cap from a drone cell and there looking up at us was a fat and annoyingly healthy Varroa Destructor mite. Today I decided to start a monitoring process using the slide out trays on our Varroa floors which will be in the hives for the next seven days. When they are removed the mite drop will be counted and action taken if the mite drop is above certain suggested levels (see the Beebase page on Varroa and the very useful Varroa Calculator).

I read somewhere about putting oil onto the paper laid on the slide out trays to make sure the little buggers can’t get away or don’t blow away and in the photo you can see the two trays that went into the hives today at 4pm. On the right is just plain white paper and on the left the paper has been liberally coated with sunflower oil. I did wonder if the smell from the oil might cause fright to the bees. Perhaps someone with better knowledge could comment on that. Anyway in they went and now to wait for the results.

Tree Surgeon Paul Johnson kindly allowed me to harvest some local Western Red Cedar for making into British National Hives. I’m due to pick up the Cedar from Rowsely Sawmill tomorrow after which it’ll join the Chatsworth Cedar for seasoning. Paul’s son Perry is very keen (and very knowledgeable!) on birds and wanted a dovecote so I decided that it would be easy enough for me to return the favour. Here’s a quick photo of the result.

Dovecote

Luckily Perry has found some doves locally and they are now in their garden shed awaiting a new home. All that’s needed now is to put some felt on the roof and paint/stain and the birds can move in.

There’s nothing worse than woodworking for leaving you with egg on your face. It happens in even the very best cabinet makers. Just as this standard National Hive floor was about to leave the workshop to be sent out to the customer I decided to lay the tape measure across it and lo and behold it was 8mm short in one dimension! The workshop air didn’t quite turn blue but I did sigh with relief that I wasn’t going to get a call in a couple of days asking why my National Hive floors were different sizes to everyone elses.

oops!

The only solution was to quickly make up another as the rest of the order was ready for delivery.

I’m so busy in the workshop making up orders that I’ve not posted anything on the blog for a couple of days so here’s an update on the business…we have van graphics!

peak hives van graphics

To celebrate here’s a tiny competition open to all but most likely for those that live in the area and see the new car logo on the road. The first to send in a photo of the newly decorated vehicle (not this one as that would be cheating) will be sent a free hive tool…I did say it was a tiny competition!

I’m very pleased with it. Thanks go to Jim and Gary at Hotline Signs in Buxton for a great job done very quickly at a very reasonable price.

The Berlingo has already delivered about 20 National Hives, several Nucleus Hives and other National Hive parts to Peak-Hives customers as well as ferried the children on the inevitable school runs. From now on we’ll do it in corporate style!

Having retired the family car last year in October and managed (with great difficulty) borrowing my parents car in the meantime I decided it was time to look round for a vehicle that would do the family runs and also help out with delivering National Hive orders in the locality when necessary. By chance we came across a real bargain and here’s the first batch of flat pack and assembled Peak Hives National Hive parts out for delivery this morning. The Berlingo is already a success with the children and it’s a fantastic addition to the business too. The next step is to add a towbar so that I can pick up and move about the locally sourced cedar that Dave and Adele at the National Park authority very kindly send my way when they can.

Peak Hives Berlingo

Jim at Hotline signs is doing me some Peak Hives window graphics, can’t wait to see them. I would have liked to have continued living without a vehicle but it’s just not possible where we live. If I did then I’d be giving myself a major headache and putting both family and business under too much strain.

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Pollinator Plants

Peak Hives now has it's own nursury for Pollinator Plants. We are keen gardeners and with our interest in beekeeping supplying quality pollinator plants seemed a natural progression... The polytunnel is now populated with our own propagated and carefully selected bee friendly plants.

Potentilla ‘Golden Starlit’ (Summer)

This brilliant yellow flower is perfectly complimented with a grey/green foliage which the bees love. Recommended by the RHS to be an excellent attractant and nectar source for bees and other beneficial insects.

1 Litre Pot £3.992 Litre Pot £5.99

Lavender 'Devon Compact White'

An ever popular perennial with profusion of pink, slightly more petite flowers on very upright habit over dense, aromatic, grey-green foliage with a tight mounding habit.

1 Litre Pot £4.992 Litre Pot £6.99

Pulmonaria ‘Raspberry Splash’

Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash'. A spring flowering perennial forming dense clumps of narrow white spotted dark green leaves and long lasting raspberry pink blooms. One of the earlier flowering lungworts and so particularly valuable as an early nectar source for bees.

1 Litre Pot £4.792 Litre Pot £6.79

Potentilla ‘Scarlet Starlit’

A Potentilla that has well-balanced but dwarf habit which carries crimson red flowers in the summer over foliage that has an eye-catching silver lustre. Recommended by the RHS to be an excellent attractant and nectar source for bees and other beneficial insects.

1 Litre Pot £5.502 Litre Pot £7.50

Veronica spicata ‘Heidekind’ (Summer)

From June-August, each strong stem is topped with a fat, cerise-pink flower which should be deadheaded to extend interest.

1 Litre Pot £4.952 Litre Pot £7.95

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Autumn)

C. plumbaginoides commonly called hardy blue-flowered leadwort is a low-growing herbaceous perennial with spreading roots, forming a mat of stems bearing oval leaves which turn red or purple in autumn. Clusters of rich blue flowers from late summer adored by bees.

1 Litre Pot £5.492 Litre Pot £8.49

Sage officinalis ‘Icterina (Gold)’ (Autumn)

A cheerful addition to the herb garden and particularly attractive when topped by its purple-blue flowers in Spring and Summer.

1 Litre Pot £6.502 Litre Pot £8.50

Euphorbia ‘Baby Charm’ (Spring)

Beautiful red tints to the attractive green foliage, with sprays of delicate green flowers on red stems in spring.

1 Litre Pot £4.792 Litre Pot £8.79

Helleborus orientalis hybrid ‘Pink Lady’ (Spring)

One of the very best bee plants is the hybrid hellebore (Helleborus x hybridus) because the open flowers are easy to access and provide life sustaining nectar and pollen for at least two weeks or more.

1 Litre Pot £5.202 Litre Pot £7.20

Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii (Summer)

Attractive to bees and other pollinators Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii bears attractive, daisy-like flowers with cone-shaped, black-brown centres from August to October.

Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ (Spring)

Iberis ‘Masterpiece’ (Spring)

Iberis 'Masterpiece' is known for attracting bees, butterflies and moths. It has highly nectar-pollen-rich-flowers.

1 Litre Pot £4.992 Litre Pot £6.99

Verbena bonariensis (Summer/Autumn)

Flowering in July, August, September and October and noted for attracting Honeybees, Bumblebees and Butterflies. Prefers well drained light or medium soil sheltered from the wind.

1 Litre Pot £4.492 Litre Pot £5.99

Stachys byzantina (Summer/Autumn)

Flowering from July to September Stachys byzantina (aka Lamb's Ears) establishes quickly and provides a dense carpet of delicate fluffy grey leaves and then tall silky flower spikes which attract larger Bumble bee species. Also provides a perfect environment for Wool Carder bees which use the leaf hairs for nesting material for their young. A superb plant.

1 Litre Pot £3.992 Litre Pot £5.49

To Order

You can purchase everything for a National Hive here on a single page. If you’re looking at buying a complete hive then please use the center column…for National Hive parts please use the left hand column.
You can view your order at any time here…

You can also call Nicholas or Adriana on 07594 583 151 but emailing is best as it allows Nick to be more productive in the workshop and get orders out earlier. All hives / hive parts are custom made to order. Please remember that our priorities are quality and sustainability and not making a quick profit out of mass produced items.

If you have a large order (eg 10 plus hives) then discounts will be available. Please call to discuss but please remember our prices are already very competitive.

Delivery/Collection

If you’re within pickup distance then we welcome collection in person direct from our workshop in Tideswell. Otherwise UK mainland delivery charges are as follows:

If your order is to ship to Northern Ireland, The Channel Islands, Republic of Ireland or the Highlands and Islands please add extra postage by clicking this button…

Peak Hives is, and will remain, a small cottage industry. We have a small dedicated workshop and Nick makes all our products to order. Due to the huge increase in interest in beekeeping we are very busy at the moment. If you have a time critical order then please call Nick/Adriana on 07594 583 151 and we will always try our best to accommodate your needs.

Please note that the current turn around on orders is approximately 3 weeks.

Testimonials

“…just wanted to say a massive thank you for my hive, it is beautiful! I get my bees on Saturday and i’m really proud to have them in your hive! You now have a devoted customer…”

“…arrived and we are delighted with it. It’s really well made, so lovely to see such great craftsmanship, the bees should be very happy too…”

“…Hive arrived safely yesterday! Really pleased with it, what a great little Hive! Workmanship is second to none!…”

“…Thanks very much for putting our order through. Went and collected them today and really impressed with your work. Bees are going in on Monday to their new home. I’ve no doubt we’ll be back for more hives in due course….”

“…Just to let you know that my nuc hive arrived bang on time and I am delighted with it! Many thanks for the great service. It is very helpful to have updates via email and text concerning delivery date/time.

I’m sure I’ll be back for more…!…”

“…Fantastic! Just what I was after and they’ve turned out a treat. Really happy with the product and the quality is fab. So much so that I might be after another 10…”

“…It’s lovely and I’m so pleased with the workmanship too.
The service has been fantastic all round and I’ll definitely be buying from you again in the future!…”

“…It’s great to be able to support an individual artisan who, not only produces a great product, but also goes the extra mile for customer service….”

“…The Ashford feeders are superb, the boxes and hive stand perfect – I couldn’t be more pleased….”

“…delighted with the hive. Thank you so much, it looks great. Will spread the word amongst the members of our local group and more if ever I get the opportunity…”

“…We received the 2 assembled units today and are thrilled with the excellent improved design. Well worth waiting for…”

“…it’s very very good stuff, thank you. It’s very well made, I like the solid looking frame on the queen excluder…. Thanks a lot! A satisfied customer…”

“…a truly amazing business and I will spread the word in our club. I guess that is why I would not go elsewhere quality is worth the wait…”

“…It is great to trade with a business like yours where the benefits go straight to you and your family…”

“…I am very pleased with both the quality of the workmanship and the manner in which the package was delivered….The bees have settled in very quickly and they appear to be happy with their new home! Thank you very much for your excellent service….”

“…thank you both for being a British company making something in a traditional way. I wish you the best of luck and will be ordering more soon I’m sure…”

“…Arrived safely. Brilliant customer service…”

“…Just wanted to say thank you so much for making and dispatching my order so quickly! Really appreciate it Nick! (so will the bees)…”

“…Your hives are of outstanding quality and worth the delivery time wait…”

“…So pleased with the stand, as sturdier than the new ones of today! Keeping the stand and brood box indoors for the the lovely cedar smell rather than store in the bee shed and until the spring when I can use. I will be back for more orders and will recommend you…”

“…delivered the Outstanding Varroa Floor this morning. Please thank Nicholas for his efforts on making the Hive Items I ordered promptly and to the usual high quality..”

“…Thank you for sending my additional hive parts so quickly. I am very pleased with the hive which was also appreciated by a group of bee inspectors…”

“…as with my previous order, everything was beautifully made and easy and straightforward to assemble…”

“…Hi, I’ve just received my new nucleus hive and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s far too nice to go outside, it’s more like a piece of furniture!…”

“…The quality looks really good, and I am looking forward to assembling the first one to see how they look.”

“…Once again I compliment you on the top quality of your products, excellent, it’s nice doing business with someone who cares…”

“…arrived and look excellent – the nuke in particular is a masterpiece”

“…really gratifying to know that there are still craftspeople in this world who can turn out high quality products, use sustainable business practices and materials, still charge an accessible price and deal with customers in a friendly manner…”

“…thanks for the hive its gone together well and is now waiting for its bees!”

“…arrived this morning, very nice, I am well pleased with it.”

“…Just to say thanks for you effort to get the bee hive to us. The brother-in-law is a happy fellow…”

“…were easy to assemble and all functioning…The quality of timber is also so much better than other ones I’ve had…”

“…Nuc’s just arrived. Many thanks for getting it out to me before the weekend. It looks really good, can’t wait to put it together so I can split my colony and put it to some good use…”

Flat Pack Assembly

Click the links below to download pdf files containing assembly instructions for our flat pack National Hives. Please give Nick a call on 07594 583151 if you're unsure about any step in the process.